The compelling case for replacing stamp duty

Grey-haired Australians can sit on their porches and yell at lawn-trespassers to their heart’s content. But they need to stop telling us to ‘get out of their housing market’. Dominic Perrottet’s plan to abolish stamp duty in New South Wales and replace it with land tax finally lets young people share in the Australian dream. For far too long too many young Australians haven’t been able to afford a one-bedroom hole in the wall, let alone a lawn. 

The COVID lockdown has sent youth unemployment skyrocketing, and has suspended career plans. Many Australians approaching retirement expect the young to support them financially and to cheerfully pay the interest on the national debt. All of this, coupled with an…